1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to protective head gear. Other embodiments disclosed herein relate to protective headgear assembly for sports or activities generally associated with eye and/or facial protection as part of protective head gear. Specific embodiments disclosed herein may relate to protective sports equipment, and particularly to a facial protector used with a hockey helmet.
For convenience and clarity, reference may generally be made to a hockey helmet throughout the disclosure, but it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited in any way by the description of embodiments as they may appear relevant to a hockey helmet. Further, “hockey” in itself is also not meant to be limited, and may include any form of the game, such as ice hockey, field hockey, street hockey, in-line hockey, roller hockey, floor hockey, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
The evolution of head and facial protection design has long been synonymous with those that require protection by participating in an active lifestyle, especially that of industry and sport. Over time, technology has provided protection ranging from simplistic head protection in the form of helmets, to modern head protection that often demands a combination of complex designs with different concepts developed for any number of reasons, including the general concept of safety.
Helmets, rigid shells, or other forms protective head gear, are generally designed with a primary purpose to protect a user's head from injury in the event that a force, projectile, or other foreign object becomes a directed thereat. For example, a principal objective of helmets for use in an activity or sport may be user (e.g., wearer, player, etc.) safety. Government and/or other standards may exist that govern the performance of helmets intended for certain activities when subjected to any number of conditions.
However, a helmet by itself is oftentimes insufficient for full head protection because it may not protect a user's eyes, ears, mouth or other bodily areas. In the sport of hockey, for example, these areas are prone to contact with dangerous and/or fast-moving objects such as a stick or a puck, or possibly another player's fingers (or any other kind of projectile or foreign object), as well as other elements such as rain, snow, perspiration/sweat, etc.
With respect to various sports or activities, the prior art includes numerous features directed toward improvements in safety with regard to protecting a facial region, but often to the detriment of the user's performance. For example, one option may provide full facial protection by mounting a clear impact-resistant full visor or shield to the head gear; however, this option is limited by poor ventilation, as well as for other reasons explained in detail below.
Another option is a clear “half” visor or shield attached to the head gear, which is often done to provide the capability of the head gear to have better ventilation to prevent fogging. However, facial protection is now limited to only half the face. Sometimes these options are combined, such that there is “complete” facial protection with a half-shield in a combination with a half-cage that may provide a marginal compromise of safety/protection and user performance.
Another option includes the use of a “full” cage-type shield, which typically provides a greater amount of facial protection in combination with adequate ventilation in order to provide aid to a user's vision and performance, while still promoting safety and protection. This type of configuration is not limited to hockey, and comparable embodiments can be used for other sports or activities. There are also different embodiments for different aspects of a sport, such as a position player mask versus a goalie mask. Similarly, in baseball (or softball) there can be a position player mask versus a catcher mask.
A full cage-type or wire mesh face mask is well known in the art and may provide a better option to prevent the problem of accumulating moisture or perspiration that occurs on a visor or shield; however, these masks still lack the capability to provide a fully adequate range of vision for the user. Cages and masks adapted for head gear are further known for having some form of a rigid/static horizontal and vertical bar connection that forms a kind of grid across the face, as shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a full cage facial protector mounted to a head gear, is shown. FIGS. 1A and 1B together show a head gear assembly 1 that includes a head gear 10 with an attached cage 12. The cage 12 is formed by any means known to a person having ordinary skill in the art, such as by crossing and securing substantially vertical members 16 with substantially horizontal members 18. Typically, the cage 12 is attached to the head gear 10 in order to protect a face/head 14 and/or a facial region 20 from various elements, such as flying objects or the like.
As illustrated, the cage 12 has a plurality of gaps 2 disposed within the cage, and the size of any of the gaps 2 may be determined by, for example, a gap size 3. Typically, the gap 2 and the gap size 3 are static in nature (i.e., the dimensions do not change). When donned by a user, the static nature of members 16 and 18 become a hindrance to the performance of the head gear assembly 1 because the user's range of vision is impaired. The range of vision may include straight ahead vision, side-to-side vision, peripheral vision, as well as a line of sight vision, and is not meant to be limited in any way. As shown in FIG. 1, a user's line of sight P1 is directly impaired by horizontal member 16a. 
Though a user may initially don the head gear assembly 1 without an initial range of vision impairment, any movement that occurs as a result of partaking in an activity typically subjects the user's line of sight to the members 16 and/or 18. Thus, the cage 12 interferes with the user's range of vision, even when the cage 12 is properly positioned, because the cage 12 moves relative to the user's face during use.
While no single mask or cage used today may be positioned in a manner to provide unlimited vision, there have been some attempts with limited success to improve vision. For example, the gap of a hockey goalie mask may have the vertical bars removed in order to aid vision, but this configuration still subjects a user to the dangers previously mentioned. These and other similar devices provide an unadjustable, static cage that connects typically to the front, side and/or other area of the helmet.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show a helmet 1 having some vertical bars removed from a protective mask, as well as making the mask itself adjustable to change a line of sight angle from x-x′ to y-y′, which functions by adjusting the mask to vertically move (i.e., pivot) the line of sight P1 of a user. However, while the line of sight P1 and/or direction of vision might change, the size of the gap does not. In other words, gap size 58 remains static at all times; instead of a dynamic gap size, the static gap size 58 is shifted downward by a distance 72, thereby changing the planar line of sight P1 to planar line of sight P2. Unfortunately, this configuration is still inadequate because the gap in the mask still subjects a user to the dangers previously mentioned. For example, FIGS. 2C and 2D illustrate an object O penetrating the mask both before and after the mask has been adjusted.
As may be understood from the description above, protective facial gear of the prior art provide a static gap size. While the gap itself might be moveable, this aspect does not account for the numerous differences of potential users that might require an ability to slightly change this gap size or to move the gap to a position where the impairment of vision is reduced accordingly because one user will naturally not have the same exact line-of-sight requirement as another. For example, during activities a user's head gear is often subjected to frequent head movements, characterized by repeated lowering and raising, or side-to-side turning of the head. While such movements are natural and necessary, the static gap size of the grid will generally interfere with or impair the user's vision at any given time.
Because a user's line-of-sight requirement can change over time, such as a span of time where a child grows from one size to another. Variances in users (e.g., adult, young adult, child, etc.), user characteristics (e.g., big head, small head, etc.), and user requirements (e.g., the activity the head gear is used for) create a need for facial protection that provides a dynamic gap size that may be adjustable between a range of gap sizes.
What is needed is a head gear with a facial protector that may provide a dynamic gap size. There is also a need for facial protection with a dynamic gap size, where the adjustment of the gap size does not detrimentally affect the user's line of sight. What is further needed is facial protector with a vision gap, where the size of the gap can be adjusted to enhance the performance of the head gear. It is desirable to provide a head gear that provides an appropriate balance between user safety and user performance.